The author defines Christian theology as reflection about important questions from a Christian perspective. These include not only questions about God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, but also questions about the social, political, and economic order in which we live, including cloning. He believes humans have pressed our dominion too far. Like the builders of the tower of Babel we are exceeding acceptable limits, and that we need to draw some boundaries and stay within them. Dr. Cobb examines possible ethical boundaries.

Sooner, not later, we’ll know how to tweak the stretches of the genome that produce the proteins that make us tend toward whatever we wish -- prayer, piety and devotion for example. A kind of literal brainwashing will have taken place, and the free will that makes you real would have been, if not eliminated, then perhaps overpowered.

Genetic screening of embryos may lead
to a world in which children born the old-fashioned way are scorned. Procreative
liberty should be presumed. Those who would limit choice must show why choice
is harmful.

Do the findings of molecular biologists threaten to replace biblical anthropology with the idea that human behavior is entirely genetically determined? It is possible to maintain a biblical view of human freedom and responsibility while acknowledging the power and significance of genetic coding.

At what point does genetic engineering violate the mystery of the human person? Gilbert Meilaender contends that a line should be drawn when altering germ cells becomes a way of exercising control over future generations.

A review of Life, Liberty and the Defense of Dignity: The Challenge of Bioethics, by Leon R. Kass. Kass ably led the President’s Council on Bioethics in a long debate on cloning. But for Kass, cloning of either kind is a fundamental assault on our humanity and our dignity. However, the author believes that Kass presents a distorted, out-of-date picture of the present field of bioethics, which has changed much over the past three decades.